The Regina Floral Conservatory in Wascana Park is a heated tropical greenhouse that feels most worthwhile in the depths of a prairie winter, when the contrast between the outdoor cold and the humid warmth inside is extreme enough to produce a genuine physical relief. In summer it is a garden attached to a garden, and the experience is more conventional.
The collection includes tropical plants, cacti, palms, orchids, and a variety of flowering plants that rotate through the seasons. The building is small — a serious botanical garden it is not — but the entry fee is minimal and the sense of refuge in winter is genuine. The conservatory has seasonal displays for major holidays and maintains a productive facility for the city's parks and gardens program. It is in Wascana Park, close to the MacKenzie Art Gallery, and makes a good short add-on to a park circuit.